In the transport or freight hauling industry there is a need for means to quickly and easily apply a suitable tension to chains, straps, cables and ropes that are adapted to fix heavy objects in place on the transport means. The device for pulling the tension in the flexible means must also be constructed and arranged to hold the tension in the flexible tie-down while the objects are being transported and yet that device must be adapted to be quickly and safely operative to release the tension in the flexible tie-down means for unloading the objects when the destination has been reached.
Heretofore, one form of a tie-down system has been used which makes used of a manually manipulated rotating take up shaft for wrapping a flexible tie-down means around its periphery, the shaft having a toothed wheel integral therewith that coacts with a pawl to hold the tension in the flexible tie-down. A suitable winding or cranking means is provided to wind the flexible tie-down on the shaft and the pawl must be released at the destination to permit the unloading of the heavy object from the transport. In practice at the freight depot, the tension in the tie-down is released by using a pry bar or a crank on the toothed wheel to slightly tighten the flexible tie-down in order to release the load on the pawl and then the operator can move the pawl to its unlocked position whereupon the toothed wheel can be turned to reverse the rotation of the shaft to fully release the pull on the tie-down. The use of the fingers near the pawl adjacent the toothed wheel to unlock the pawl as has been the practice in the past, has resulted in some painful accidents to the operators including even the loss of fingers when the crank or pry bar has been accidentally released during the tension releasing process.